I am hoping that I can obtain some reasonable feedback from the Mustachian community on a potential job decision. Here is my situation:
1) Ten years ago, I joined an "up-or-out" hard-charging profession. The goal was to spend a few years in that environment and then find an exit strategy for more reasonable hours. I then had to move due to family reasons and the exit strategy never happened. Of the group of 15 youngsters ten years ago, two eventually made partner at large firms. I am one of them. Someone I never got voted off the island.
2) The irony of that situation is that eight years ago, after the first of my colleagues left, we were attending a farewell dinner. Everyone else cabbed, while I rode my bike. At some point, after a glass of wine or two, I suggested that it was sad that we could not simply keep our $90K salary year after year and simply reduce our hours, as nobody needs more than that to live. 13 other people looked at me in absolute shock and horror as if I had just said I was an alien from Mars.
3) The upshot of this is that every year of my working life, more money has been thrown at me, where gross income now is between $250K - $300K Canadian a year. None of that is guaranteed, since it's an "eat what you kill" profession. But it's still a fuck-ton of money. Well, fuck-tonne since we use the metric system up here. I am the one percent.
3) I am now contemplating applying for a government policy job that will more or less be strictly 9-5, but will only pay around $80K plus pension to start, with very little upside.
Here are the factors going through my head:
Pros:
- Regular hours
- Interesting work while dropping the non-interesting portion
- Happiness (time for hobbies for the first time in years)
- See kids grow up
- Security
- Possibly avoided heart attack
- Two-day weekends
- No more business development. Ever.
- FIRE in 14 years meaningless as by then kids will be grown up.
Cons:
- Millions of people would absolutely friggin kill to make the money I make right now and gladly take on the stress and hours for it. That likely includes most of the people on this board.
- FIRE in 14 years in current job (assuming $2.5 million in investable assets, which would require socking away about $150K every year).
- No pressure whatsoever for DW to work as long as I keep my current job.
- Irreversible - in this country, working for government tarnishes you forever for private sector jobs since people usually go to government for the lifestyle, which gets interpreted as a lack of commitment.
Has anyone here voluntarily given up a high-pressure job to take something with regular hours? Has it been worth it? Or would this be a bone-headedly stupid move?